My Summertime adventure has officially begun! Kim, Erin, and I set out to Asakusa today (in the rain... seriously, where did that come from?). Asakusa is a town in the heart of Tokyo and is most known for the Buddhist Sensoji Temple. When we arrived at our hotel, we were a bit displeased to find that our intriguing capsule style hotel would be musty, dingy, dirty, and... yellow? We each get a bed inside of a little cubby, with a light, a television (which we still haven't figure out how to turn on), and a clock. We also each get a small locker for our belongings. The hygiene here was not up to par, but the owners, a woman and her grandmother (obaasan), are so incredibly nice that it's difficult to fully regret deciding to stay here. Besides, it's only for one night. The obaasan startled us when we were checking in when she came up behind us and asked us if we wanted a drink. We turned around and were momentarily confused until we looked down and realized that the voice was coming from a small old woman holding a tray of water cups whose head only reached our waists. When talking to the owner after settling in, we discovered the obaasan had her own little entry behind the front counter. Kim was leaning over looking at a map when the obaasan politely gestured for her to move. At first we thought she was leaning on some paperwork the obaasan needed, but when she moved away, we watched her disappear underneath the counter, barely having to bend over at all, and emerge from a door that perfectly fit her height. It was downright adorable.
So, Kim and I went to visit the Sensoji Temple and found that it was only a one minute walk from our hotel. Erin had some shopping to do, so she didn't go with us. The entrance was beautiful and detailed, and lead to a shopping street with small street vendors. Once you have passed all of the vendors, you can waft incnse smoke from an incense well over various parts of your body, and it is supposed to contain healing powers. One nice old woman told us we should wave it over our hearts. After that, there is a hand washing station, where you are supposed to wash your hands before entering a temple, out of respect. Once inside, you can make a prayer by facing the main part of the temple, throwing a coin into a pit, clapping, and bowing to pray for a moment.
The detail underneath.
A woman was selling fresh, soft, warm rice cakes. They were coated lightly in something, and were amazing.
I am on Kim's computer and it is out of battery, so this post is currently under construction and will be finished soon. Sorry!
Before I jump straight into this list, I want to clarify that some of these points may be generally incorrect, or could be exclusive to Tokyo. I could also have some of my reasonings wrong. This list is simply something I compiled based off of my own experiences throughout the year that I lived and traveled throughout Japan. This list is also not, in any way, a complete one. I'm sure if you search the internet you can find many other very true facts about Japan that I have forgotten to list here. In urban areas there will, at any given time or place, be at least one コンビニ ("conbini" / convenience store) within walking distance. Japanese people don’t usually have middle names . Japanese people are very interested in each others' blood type - it's like astrology in America, except people take it very seriously. Expect to be asked what your blood type is at least once. Japanese deodorant supposedly doesn't work very well. I brought my own deodo...
Just a short (15 minute) walk from campus there is an elementary school, and I was one of the people who visited it today. When we first walked in, we saw a bike rack... full of unicycles!? Two steps into their territory and Japanese children are already proving their superiority over me. We walked into the school building where we took off our shoes and were given slippers to wear. Then we met all the children (the 5th grade class) in the gym. Each of us was paired up with two children. My partners were Yuta (the boy) and Olivia (the girl... obviously). The children gave us a tour of the school. Olivia is half British and fluent in English just as much as she is in Japanese, so I received a very comprehensive tour. Her accent was very interesting, as you can imagine. Yuta was pretty good at English, too, but was a little bit shy and spacey. This elementary school was just amazing. They had classrooms for each grade...
Being away from friends and family has gotten me down a bit lately. It's been a month, and the homesickness started to kick in. Also, I think I understand what they mean by culture shock now. I admit, I was starting to regret my decision just a little bit. All I could think about was how long it would be until I could have a hug from my mom and my dad and my boyfriend, and my mind started to become physically tired from all the Japanese. It's exhausting to feel like you don't understand a single thing in your life; when you don't understand what anyone is saying, when you don't know anything about where you are, when you don't know anything about the people around you, and when nobody who truly loves you is by your side, and won't be for another 11 months. But then I remembered: I may not understand anything around me, but I understand myself. It sounds so moral-y, but I honestly think it's important to remember. I need to remember it, and...
My Summertime adventure has officially begun! Kim, Erin, and I set out to Asakusa today (in the rain... seriously, where did that come from?). Asakusa is a town in the heart of Tokyo and is most known for the Buddhist Sensoji Temple. When we arrived at our hotel, we were a bit displeased to find that our intriguing capsule style hotel would be musty, dingy, dirty, and... yellow? We each get a bed inside of a little cubby, with a light, a television (which we still haven't figure out how to turn on), and a clock. We also each get a small locker for our belongings. The hygiene here was not up to par, but the owners, a woman and her grandmother (obaasan), are so incredibly nice that it's difficult to fully regret deciding to stay here. Besides, it's only for one night. The obaasan startled us when we were checking in when she came up behind us and asked us if we wanted a drink. We turned around and were momentarily confused until we looked down and realized that the voice was coming from a small old woman holding a tray of water cups whose head only reached our waists. When talking to the owner after settling in, we discovered the obaasan had her own little entry behind the front counter. Kim was leaning over looking at a map when the obaasan politely gestured for her to move. At first we thought she was leaning on some paperwork the obaasan needed, but when she moved away, we watched her disappear underneath the counter, barely having to bend over at all, and emerge from a door that perfectly fit her height. It was downright adorable.
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